On Feb. 17 the Muslim Student Association (MSA) hosted a tabling event to celebrate World Hijab Day, the national holiday that took place on Feb. 1. The MSA decided to host their tabling session a few weeks after the holiday actually occurred because of the preparations needed for the event following winter break.

Shahd Omar, criminal justice major and vice president of MSA, shared what World Hijab Day means to her, and how important it is to break the stigma surrounding Muslim women. “Most of the time when people think about ‘Hijabies’ they always have the misconception that they are oppressed which is not the case. People who choose to wear the Hijab have full choice in doing so. It is their choice completely.”

Omar also shared how her experiences as a Muslim still affect her today. “When I was in 5thgrade, I actually used to wear… [the hijab] but the town I grew up in, it was something different there and was not considered normal. I got bullied out of wearing it.”

Having experienced the oppression and discrimination that Muslim women face every day, Omar would like to see the university implement changes in the future to better represent the Muslim community.

“With one of our holidays coming up, Ramadan, a big way that UNH can [support] is by helping students who have night classes,” Omar said. “For some of us, we’re breaking our fast during said classes. They should allow us a quick, little period of time to just eat and drink. Most Muslims break their fast with dates so that will hold them off a little bit.”

Youssef Ossama, a sophmore marketing major and the treasurer and director of public relations for MSA also shared his thoughts on what World Hijab Day means to him as a Muslim at the university: “Especially as a guy, all I can do is support.”

Ossama also shared what the university could do to better support the Muslim community. “We’ve definitely been in touch with dining about having food prepared for us. We’ve been in touch, not just for Muslim students, but also for Jewish students. I think that’s something, as a whole, that the student bodies are pushing for.”

The MSA encourages students to get involved as much as possible.

“We have our one-year anniversary coming up, that’s something that students should definitely be on the lookout for,” Omar said. “We’re going to be recognizing and showcasing a lot of the things that we have done in our year of officially being founded by our lovely president, Adrielys Gomez.”

Thursday nights at 6:00pm are usually when we hold our events in the Myatt Center, which is usually around the time when Muslims break their fast,” Omar also said. “Around that time, we’re going to do a quick, little break and pass out food and let people get what they need to break their fast,”

Students who are interested in attending upcoming MSA events and keeping up to date on their organization can visit their Charger Connection page.